Station-indicator.



PATENTED MAR. 26, 1907. W. P. ENNIS.

STATION INDICATOR. APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 14, 1906.

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Attorneys.

UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIoE.

WILLIAM P. ENNIS, OF THE UNITED STATES'A RMY.

STATION-INDICATOR).

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 26, 1907.

Application filed September 14, 1906. Serial No. 334,660.

the name or number of the next station which the car is to reach,Whichdevice will be simple and positive in its operation.

A further object is to produce a device in which the sheet carrying thelist of stations may be removed and another substituted when the routeof the car is changed.

Other objects will appear from the following specification and drawings.

The invention is particularly applicable to urban and suburban cars, andmore especially to street, elevated, and subway systems.

The drawings illustrate one embodiment of the invention.

Figure '1 is a front elevation of the box with the cover removed andother portions of the device. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of a part fthe operating mechanism. Fig.

3 is an enlarged longitudinal section of one of the rollers. Fig.- 4 isa transverse section of the roller shown in Fig. 3, taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a front elevation of the operating-handle andindicating-plate; and Fig. 6 is a sectional view thereof, taken on theline 6 6 of Fig. 5.

In all of the views like parts are designated by the same referencecharacters.

The device comprises a box 1, having a glass in the front, (not shown,)so that the names or numbers of the streets appearing upon the flexiblesheet 2 will be successively ex osed. This sheet is supported upon therol ers 3 4 and is properly stretched between them. The rollers may berotated by the guard or conductor to successively bring the numbers ornames of the streetsin front, so that they may be read by the passengersin the car. The roller 3 is mounted upon a shaft, which is rotatedthrough a system of bevel-gearin 5 and a diagonal shaft 6, which isactuated y a crank 7 on the platform. The crank'7. turns around a plate8, Fig. 6,

having indications to show which way the crank is to be turned,depending upon the direction of travel of the-car. A pin 9 is forced bya spring into a shallow groove in the plate 8, so as to lock the crank 7in a definite position and to insure it being held in such a positionthat the name or number of the street will appear fairly in the openingin the" front of the The roller 4 is mounted on a shaft, whichis rotatedas the roller 3 1s rotated andin'the 7 same direction through spur-gears10. The flexible sheet 2 is provided with a row of holes,

which secures its edge to bothrollers by means of a series of hooks, asshown 1..

The roller 4 is removable, so that it can be taken out and the flexiblesheet changed or another roller with another sheet substituted.

It is connected to itsIsupporting-shaft', so as to always hold theflexib e sheet 2 under tension, preventing the latter wrinkling or becoming slack as it is wound up upon one roller and the diameter of thelatter increases. The roller'4 is best shown .in Figs. 3 and 4. Thesupporting-shaft 11 is in'the form of a tube. At one end is a squaredextremity 13, w ch engages in a square opening in the shaft 14, so thatthe rotation of the shaft 14 will rotate the roller 4. The other end ofthe tube 11 is provided with-a sliding plug 15, having a reduced portionwhich en ages within a bearing in the otherside of t e box 1. This plugis forced outward by means of a spring 16, a pin 17 sliding in a slot inthe tube 11, limiting its movement. By means of the sliding plug theroller 4 may be taken out or ut in the box 1, like a springshade-roller. he spring 18 has one extremity secured to a staple on thetube 11 and the other extremity to a reel 19, which is mounted to turnaround the tube 1 1. Apair of lugs 20 (see Fig. 4) onthe reel engageswithin a longitudinal groove formed on the inside of the'roller4 andprevents the reel from rotating, but allows it to he slid in from forthe purpose of limiting the extent of movement of. the reel. Thisinsures the keeping of the spring 18 always under'tension; but when theroller 4 is removed from plug 12, having 'a' i the box the tube 11 willnot rotate morethan one revolution. It is thereby thus possible toremove the roller from the box without the necessity of winding up thespring every time the roller is removed.

In accordance with the provisionsof the patent statutes I have describedthe rind- 1e of operation of my invention and t e preerred means bywhich it is carried out flout I I Io supporting the station-indicatingsheet, a

shaft within the roller and a reel on the shaft, a spring connecting thereel and shaft, the said reel having a slot therein, and a pin on theshaft engaging with the slot for limiting the extent of rotary movementof the reel.

2. A station-indicator having a roller for sup orting thestation-indicating sheet, the said roller having a shaft and reelthereon, a spring connecting the reel and shaft, a stop for limiting theextent offrotary movement of the reel upon the shaft, and a lug on thereel engaging Within a longitudinal groove formed on the inside of theroller to prevent the reel from rotating independently of the roller.

3. A station-indicator having a flexible sheet, two rollers for thesheet, means for positively rotating both rollers, a spring undertension Within one of the rollers for keeping the sheet under tension,and means for permitting the removal of that roller from the indicatorwithout completely unwinding 30 the spring.

This specification signed and witnessed this 3d day of September, 1906.

WILLIAM P. ENNIS.

Witnesses:

ISAAC A. BOYLE, HENRY T. ALLEN.

